If I'd Never Known Your Love (22 page)

Calling her mother, working out the details to bring Shelly and Jason home, closing the house and stopping by the vet to pick up a muzzle and tranquilizer for Pearl kept Julia focused. On the long ride down the 15, she used Harold to ground her, throwing one question after another at him, even though he had few answers.

The authorities in Colombia and the United States would make the arrangements to have the man she'd buried returned to Colombia. The doctor who'd made the "positive"

identification had admitted he'd lost Evan's dental and medical records and that the death certificate was based on the personal belongings found in the grave.

As soon as they were within range of a cell tower, Julia asked Harold for his phone.

She hadn't bothered charging or carrying hers the months she'd been in the mountains because there wasn't any service within fifty miles of the house.

She tapped in Barbara's home number, and when her sister didn't answer tried her cell.

Barbara picked up on the third ring. Her heart in her throat at what she was about to do to her sister, Julia asked, "Where are you?"

"Why?"

"Just tell me."

"I'm at the grocery store."

"Leave—right now. Get in your car, but don't start it."

"Are you okay?" Barbara asked.

"Please,"
Julia begged."Just do this for me. It's important. I promise you'll understand in a minute."

"You're scaring me."

"No—don't be scared."

"All right," Barbara said, switching emotional gears again. "But it better not take long.

I have ice cream in my cart. The expensive kind."

In the minutes it took Barbara to assure a clerk she wasn't abandoning her cart and get to her car, Julia decided it would be better to ask her favor and then tell Barbara about Evan.

"Okay, I'm here."

"Are you inside and sitting down?"

"Wait a minute," Barbara said with a sigh. "This had better be good, Julia.

"Okay, lay it on me."

"I want you to go to Nordstrom and buy me an absolute knock-your-socks-off black dress and the sexiest black negligee you can find."

"What?"
she nearly shouted. "This is why you dragged me out of the store? Tell me again. I can't have heard you right."

"You heard me correctly."

"Okay, I'll bite—why am I doing this?"

Julia took a deep breath. "Remember that note Evan wrote me when he left?"

"Yes..."

"He's not dead, Barbara," she somehow managed to say through the instant flood of tears. "He walked out of the jungle last night, and he's going to be home in a couple of hours."

"Julia—where are you?"The implied question was whether she'd had a breakdown and had called from a padded hospital room."

"In Harold's car. We're on our way home but won't be there in time for me to get the dress and get to the airport."

"I don't understand. How can Evan be alive when we buried him eight months ago?"

Before Julia could answer, Barbara added, "Are you sure? Are you absolutely, positively sure it's Evan?"

"Yes," Julia told her. "I heard his voice. It's him, Barbara. He's coming home."

"Ohmygod—" she breathed. "Ohmygod."

Julia could hear her pounding on the steering wheel.

"This is soooo wonderful. It's beyond wonderful. It's... it's..."

"Some kind of miracle," Julia said.

"It's a hundred miracles rolled into one. Oh, Julia, I'm so far beyond words happy for you." She let out a whoop and scream so loud they should have shattered the safety glass. "Do Mom and Dad know? Of course they do—you had to call Shelly and Jason.

How are the kids taking the news?"

"Shelly couldn't stop crying and Jason couldn't stop asking questions."

"And Mom and Dad?"

"Mom couldn't stop crying and Dad couldn't stop asking questions."

Barbara laughed."Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," she squealed. "I have never been this happy. Not even close. Not in my whole life." She squealed again. "I'm going to throw a party. For all of you. Not right away," she added quickly."In a few weeks.

When Evan is ready."

"The dress?"Julia prompted.

"I'm on it— Give me a second. I'm digging for my keys."

Now it was Julia's turn to laugh. It felt like another brick had been removed from the wall she'd built around her heart. "The ice cream?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay, got it. I'll let the clerk know and then I'm outta here."

Julia heard the car door open and close. Seconds later came a long, loud horn and screeching tires.
"Barbara—"

"Relax, that wasn't meant for me."

Just the fleeting possibility that something awful could happen to another person she loved made her sick with panic. "Promise me you'll drive carefully."

"Of course. Don't I always? Never mind—don't answer that."

"I'm going to let you go now." Barbara needed the distraction of a cell phone like she needed another dozen kids in her kindergarten class. "If you have to reach me, use Harold's cell. My battery's shot."

"Do I have a spending limit for this dress?"

"The sky," Julia said. She'd worry about how to pay for it later." All I care about is that it's the next best thing to being naked." That so-o-o-o needed a modifier. "Within reason. You understand that, don't you?"

"This is going to be so much fun. I wish you were going with me."

"Wait for me at the house and you can help me get ready. At the moment I don't think I could manage a garter belt, let alone buttons or zippers."

"I'll keep easy entrance and exit in mind," Barbara said, dropping her voice. "For both you
and
Evan."

For the first time in almost six years Julia felt a flush crawl up her neck and knew her pale cheeks had turned a flaming crimson.

C H A P T E R 1 5

Harold dropped Julia and Pearl off at her house at five-thirty and returned at seven to take her to the airport. He stepped back in surprise when she opened the door.

"Wow," he said. "You look...that dress is.. .spectacular."

"It's not the dress," Mary said. "It's the woman wearing it." She stepped forward to hug Julia. "You look like a million dollars."

More like $2,836 and odd change. But Julia wouldn't have cared had it been twice that—five times, a hundred rimes. Barbara had bought the absolutely perfect little black dress. Deceptively simple, the strapless, knee-length creation clung to her best features and softly draped over those that not even jogging four miles a day could return to their ten-year-gone prime. Her shoes were two-hours-max strappy heels; her only jewelry, her wedding ring and Barbara's diamond stud earrings, which she'd insisted Julia wear.

Julia stepped outside and turned to lock the door, but her hands were shaking so badly she couldn't fit the key into the slot.

"Let me," Harold said. He locked the door, tested it and handed Julia the key. She tucked it into her bra.

"Didn't want to bother with a purse," she explained. It was then she noticed a Mercedes limo in the driveway, so new it still had paper license plates. "What's this?"

"Your ride," Mary said. "We decided that this day belongs to you and Evan."

Mary must have worked her magic on Barbara, too, because when Julia invited her to ride to the airport with them, she'd declined, saying her absence was the first of an armload of gifts she had to give Evan. Julia glanced at Harold. There was no way he'd agreed to wait a whole day without heavy persuasion. She hugged him. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Tell Evan—" Overcome with emotions, he caught his lower lip between his teeth. "Tell him welcome home and that we'll see him tomorrow."

"For breakfast," Mary said. "At our house. As soon as you're up and feel like company."

Julia hugged her, long and hard. "I owe you two so much."

"Nonsense," Mary said, and then smiled."But you do realize that 'as soon as you feel like coming over' means no later than eight. I had to promise Harold I'd do whatever it took to get you there by then."

Julia laughed. "We'll be there."

"And then if you and Evan feel up to it, we thought we'd have a little reception at the house this weekend. Somehow word got out that he's en route and it was the only way we could manage all the friends who were calling."

That would give them three days, one alone and two with Shelly and Jason."I'll check with Evan, but I don't see why that wouldn't work."

Actually, she could think of several reasons Evan might not want to be in a crowd, even one made up of loving family and friends. The books she'd read about hostages coming home after long captivities had been filled with stories about stress and illnesses, both mental and physical. But worrying about that on the happiest day of her life was like winning the Miss America contest and stopping to make sure none of the stones in the crown were loose.

She looked from Mary to Harold to Barbara. "I couldn't have gotten through all these years without you," she told them. "Thank you." She put her hand to her chest. "From the bottom of my heart."

Tears filled Barbara's eyes. "You taught me the true meaning of love, Julia. I'll never settle for anything less again."

Julia kissed her sister and took a second to wipe the lipstick from her cheek before giving Harold and Mary quick hugs. The chauffeur got out and opened the door. Julia hurried toward the car as fast as her sexy, completely impractical heels would allow, then stopped for one last wave before disappearing behind smoked glass.

Two doors down she saw her neighbor Maijorie Wells, standing in the middle of her front yard, about to plant a sign that said Welcome Home, Evan. This was a woman who'd moved in two years ago, someone who only knew Evan through her and the kids.

Julia spotted a small jet in the distance and watched, transfixed, as it banked and circled and prepared to land. She knew without question Evan was inside. All the years of waiting had come down to minutes. Her hands tingled, a warning for her to stop holding her breath. She moved outside.

Another hangar kept her from seeing the actual landing, but she heard the jets back off and knew the plane was on the ground. Minutes later it appeared, taxiing toward her.

Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, louder even than the idling jet engines. She scanned the small windows but couldn't see inside past the reflecting sun. The wind whipped her hair. The plane stopped...

After all this time, could it really be true that Evan had come home to her?

The door opened. Stairs appeared. A man filled the doorway. He found her, and his face lit with a brilliant smile.

"Evan," she breathed.

He was here. He was really here.

Her legs wouldn't move. Evan was home. She didn't have to be strong or rigid or carry the world on her shoulders anymore. She didn't run to him; she couldn't. Instead, her heart and mind reached for him. He crossed the tarmac and swept her into his arms.

With a cry she melted against him, her arms locked around his neck. Now, at this moment, she truly believed he was home.

She leaned back to look into his eyes. "It's really you," she said in wonder.

He was thinner and his hair had more gray, new lines framed his eyes and there was a long scar on his chin that hadn't been there before. He was wearing dark-green slacks and a plaid shirt, clothes obviously borrowed, in colors he would never have picked for himself. But he was not the emaciated, sickly man she'd feared he would be after all the years he'd spent in the jungle.

Before she could say anything more, he lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was the one she'd dreamed of in the morning when the kids had gone to school and the house echoed in loneliness, when she looked around at a world seemingly occupied by pairs; and in the middle of the night when her mind allowed her to go to a place where she was free of the agony of missing him.

"I'm here because of you," he said, cupping her face with his hands, absorbing her with his eyes. "I knew you were waiting." He gave her a breath- stealing smile. "I couldn't disappoint you."

She was crying, unable to return his smile. "I would have waited forever."

"I know," he said softly. "I always knew."

She touched the scar on his chin. "How—"

He took her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. "It's nothing. A story for another time." He kissed her again. "I want to go home."

Julia nodded.

Loud clapping erupted around them. Julia jumped, startled. She'd forgotten they weren't alone. Evan smiled in acknowledgment of the well wishes and waved. He put his arm around Julia and leaned in close to whisper, "Where's the car?"

C H A P T E R 1 6

"Incredible dress," Evan said, following Julia into a the limo.

An ordinary compliment filled with extraordinary meaning. "Barbara picked it out for me."

"Remind me to thank her." He settled in beside her, locking his seat belt and taking her hand. "I was expecting a crowd. How did you talk everyone out of coming?"

"We have Mary to thank for that."

His smile faded, his expression serious once more. "It's going to take a long time to thank all the people who worked to bring me home."

"There are a lot of wonderful people eager to meet you," she said.

"You must have made some important friends. I flew in first class with a State Department escort all the way from Bogota to San Francisco. There wasn't a barrier that came up in Miami that he didn't knock down with a phone call. How did you manage to maintain these people's attention spans all this time?"

"I never went away." Was she really having this conversation? Was it really her hand clasped in his? She touched his cheek, his chin, his nose, his hair. "You're really here,"

she said in wonder.

"It's hard for me to believe, too."

"What do you want to do?"

He gave her a throaty laugh filled with meaning. "You mean besides the obvious?"

For the second time that day, she blushed. "Afterward. You have a list," she insisted."I know you made one, if only in your mind."